AIA Sri Lanka adopts multicloud strategy to ensure resilience in new normal

As technology reshapes the insurance industry, AIA Sri Lanka recognises t hat a cloud-first strategy is critical to the company’s ambition to become agile in all support processes while improving the business model so that the company is primed for innovation.

Over 4,900 employees and agents across 107 offices now use Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams as a unified environment for collaboration and teamwork.

“Our use of Microsoft solutions, such as Teams, has enabled us to stay connected with colleagues across Asia and collaborate without any disruptions,” said AIA Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Nikhil Advani.

“It paid off when the government imposed a nationwide curfew to control the COVID19 pandemic. We smoothly transitioned into the ‘work from home’ way of doing things, with our staff effectively using the technologies for meetings and presentations.”

AIA Sri Lanka will also adopt Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud platform t o meet t he company’s need for resilient data centres and cloud services and addressing customers’ security, privacy and compliance requirements.

“Our transition during t he pandemic incurred almost zero downtime for our employees and customers, even with the imposed curfew,” said AIA Sri Lanka Chief Technology Officer and Director Information Technology Umeshi de Fonseka.

“We were contactable from day one because we had the right cloud tools and technologies deployed. We have a very aggressive cloud strategy on Microsoft Azure. We just finished deploying our Azure data lake—which, I believe, is a first in Sri Lanka for something of this scale. We’re also working with a partner for other cuttingedge Azure-based solutions and multiple Ai-powered initiatives, such as chatbots and predictive analytics.” AIA Sri Lanka strives to understand the evolving needs of its communities and be an enabler for change. As part of the strategic partnership, the company and Microsoft will explore sustainable insurance and business initiatives to expand sustainability across the industry.

“AIA Sri Lanka is setting the standards for insurance companies in the region,” said Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Manager Hasitha Abeywardena.

“Our cloud platform and collaboration tools enable insurance companies to gain the agility they need to respond to competitive pressures, regulatory environments and customer demand. Microsoft is committed to helping AIA Sri Lanka in its ongoing digital transformation journey.”